Social Studies

Middle School Social Studies
"Whoever wishes to foresee the future must consult the past; for human events ever resemble those of preceding times." –Machiavelli


The middle school social studies curriculum continues the geographic study of the world and its different regions through the study of South America in the Western Hemisphere and Europe, Africa, Asia, and Australia in the Eastern Hemisphere. Along with this study of world regions, middle school students delve into the creation and development of North Carolina. Throughout all of this, students use concepts from history, geography, and other social science disciplines to further their understanding.

The study of South America, Europe, Africa, and Asia build upon and complete the concepts that were taught beginning in fourth grade: the state, the nation, and the world. Due to the ever increasing interdependence of the world, examining these various counties gives students the opportunity to experience societies unlike their own, while increasing their knowledge of different people and places. Students study some of the oldest habitats and the most diverse places of human existence. These places are home to a majority of the world’s population and contain many of the most valuable resources. The curriculum focuses on the social, economic, and political institutions within each of the various societies and evaluates their connections throughout time.

Sixth and seventh Grade Social Studies focuses on providing students with an understanding of how different societies progress and change over time. They also focus on the various contributions that each has made and their importance to the world as a whole. Eighth grade social studies focuses on the growth of North Carolina within a historical context from the Revolutionary Period up until modern times. Students explore the people and events that contributed to the formation of the present nature of North Carolina.

The North Carolina Social Studies Standard Course of Study puts forth goals and objectives that strive to enable middle school students to thoughtfully investigate and answer questions about their world. It also facilitates the transition from concrete to abstract reasoning but incorporating young adolescents’ curiosity about the world.


North Carolina Standard Course of Study Social Studies Goals and Objectives

The Social Studies skill competency goals apart of The North Carolina Social Studies Standard Course of Study are the same for all students K-12. However, in middle school they are presented within the context of the areas studied: South America, Europe, Africa, Asia, Australia, and the state of North Carolina.

Skill Competency Goal 1: Students will gain important strategies that help in reading social studies related texts and in growing their social studies vocabulary.
· Objectives:
o Gain literal meaning from readings.
o Select main ideas to summarize.
o Draw inferences.
o Identify instances of cause and effect.
o Identify example of bias and propaganda.
o Understand and use social studies terms in written and spoken assessment.
o Be able to distinguish between fact and fiction.
o Utilize context clues and other sources including glossaries, texts, and dictionaries to increase understanding.

Skill Competency Goal 2: Students will gain approaches to accessing various sources and use suitable research skills to assemble, synthesize, and detail information using a variety of ways to display their learning.
· Objectives:
o Utilize appropriate sources of information.
o Work with both print and non-print source materials.
o Use various types of technology.
o Utilize community-related resources (field trips, guest speakers, interviews, etc.).
o Be able to move information from one form to another such as written to visual and statistical to written.
o Produce written, oral, musical, visual, and theatrical presentations of social studies material.

Skill Competency Goal 3: Students will gain strategies to effectively analyze, interpret, create, and use resources and materials.
· Objectives:
o Use proper reading skills for maps and globes.
o Be able to interpret graphs and charts.
o Be able to detect bias.
o Interpret social and political messages of cartoons.
o Understand history through artifacts, arts, and media.

Skill Competency Goal 4: Students will gain the ability to apply decision-making and problem solving techniques, in both written and verbal ways, to historic, modern, and controversial world issues.
· Objectives:
o Use hypothetical processes of thinking.
o Be able to examine, comprehend, and evaluate disagreeing perspectives.
o Identify and analyze values for making judgments.
o Apply conflict resolutions.
o Predict probable conclusions.
o Draw conclusions.
o Present conclusions.
o Develop hypotheses.

Skill Competency Goal 5: Students will be able to effectively incorporate computer technology into their learning processes.
· Objectives:
o Utilize word processing programs to format and create class assignments and projects.
o Create and revise a database for class assignments.
o Create and use spreadsheets to study real-world problems.
o Create indirect projects related to the social studies content area sing multimedia presentations.

National Social Studies Education Standards
The National Council for the Social Studies was formed in 1921 and has become the largest organizations devoted the social studies educations. Their mission is to provide all social studies educators with leadership, support, and services needed. The NCSS identifies ten thematic strands that they recommend all students be taught through their social studies curriculum.

Ten Themes of Social Studies:
· Culture
· Time, Continuity, and Change
· People, Places, and Environment
· Individual Development and Identity
· Individuals, Groups, and Institutions
· Power, Authority, and Governance
· Production, Distribution, and Consumption
· Science, Technology, and Society
· Global Connections
· Civic Ideals and Practices

Additional Information and Resources
· Middle Grades Social Studies Resources​
o Resources available through the NCSCOS
· Social Studies Classroom Resources
o Classroom resources available through the NCSS
· NCSCOS for Middle Grades Social Studies





For more information regarding Middle Grades Social Studies,
Please visit the following sites:
**8th Grade Social Studies**
7th Grade Social Studies
6th Grade Social Studies

"History cannot give us a program for the future, but it can give us a fuller understanding of ourselves, and of our common humanity, so that we can better face the future." -Robert Penn Warren